Norm Phelps: Science Weighs In At Last: Part TwoResponse to Gary
Francione�s Comments of March 3, 2011

Last year, two agricultural
economists from prominent American universities concluded a study on whether
publicity about the suffering of farmed animals affects the demand for meat.
Earlier this year, I reported their findings on the European Vegetarian and
Animal News Alliance (EVANA) (�Science Weighs in at Last,� February 17)*.

On March 3, 2011, Gary Francione, whom I quoted extensively in the
February article, responded with a post on his blog Animal Rights: The
Abolitionist Approach headlined �Science Weighs In: Animal Welfare Reform is
Useless.� In this blog post, Professor Francione announced that he was
consulting with colleagues who are expert in statistical analysis and that
he would post �a more formal reply as things shape up.

In the
meantime, he claimed (without further elaborating) that the study �suffers
from multiple methodological problems and is poorly designed.�

More
than five months have passed without further comment from Professor
Francione, I am reluctant to wait any longer for the appearance of his
formal reply, and I believe it is important to reply to claims made in his
interim response.�...